To begin to paint the picture, Suzanne O’Connell uses the title, Sepia Tones. It makes the reader imagine the world in rusty and brown tones. This is a set up for the future darkness of the poem and of the father. The tone in O’Connell’s poem is very tense, with words like rusty, splintered, sizzled, and bullets. The anxiousness that is given off in the writing is a perfect mirror of the girl in the poem’s feelings and the violent words from her father. It is not until he has passed that she finds the fierceness inside of her. To start, O’Connell gives a comparison of children and dogs, for even without the proper tools, neither will complain. Then it talks of the father and his breath coming and going in sepia tones and how the girl thought …show more content…
about his death for so many hours. It shows his abrasive words and how they hurt the girl, and while he worked how his anger stumbled around him. The girl had to hide behind the couch in silence with eyes squeezed tight to hide from her father’s sharp words. But even after his death, she wants him back. She does not miss him, she wants the chance to fight back and complain in his face. The theme of the poem is that when pushed too hard even a child will complain “like a fierce dog on a chain”.
The abusive words that her father shot at her and broke her heart, also broke her passive quiet nature because she now wants to stand up for herself. With enough pressure anything can snap and surprise those affected. O’Connell uses an array of literary devices throughout her poem. For example, The father’s “anger bumped into the furniture”, is a personification of the father’s emotions. While, in the next stanza, there is a line with an “m” as well as an “s” alliteration with the line of “my membranes silent, my eyes closed”. And in the last stanza O’Connell uses in inside rhyme of the words “complain” and …show more content…
“chain”. The first two lines of the poem, it begins by giving the reader an image and feeling that there is a sense of frustration due to an impossible job with a faulty tool.
Though with the problems, children and dogs do not complain, which these two lines are a marvelous set up to the ending of the poem. The line break between the third and fourth line is interesting though, it stops at a place where the reader could go any direction but it goes to complaining. The beginning line of the second stanza gives a glimpse into a conversation, with a man, that is presumed to be a father, talking about bills. Which is a very different place than where the first stanza left off. The second and third line in the second talk of his breathing and uses the metaphor of his breath “vibrating in sepia tones”, which alines the title. The next line is a very different jump, where the narrator thinks about his death for hours. This is a set up for the last stanza. The first line in stanza three shows the father’s abrasive nature. While the next line speaks of the pain felt by the narrator “as a splinter enter[s] [her] heart”. The last two lines in stanza three, the narrator speaks of his tapping of the adding machine and his anger. The narrator hides behind the couch, trying to ignore his harsh words with her eyes pinched closed. Hidden she can avoid the buzzing words that flew by her like bullets from a gun. The last line in Stanza five has been set up by stanza two and the narrator thinking about
his death. But now that he is gone, she wants him back. Not to make his life easier. No, to complain to his face. From the set up in stanza one, she wants to be fierce and make him regret hurting her. In my opinion, the poem is very well written. The poem in my opinion is about an abusive family relationship between a daughter and her father. The first stanza gave me a little bit of trouble trying to find a connection to the majority of the poem other than the last stanza. But overall, I enjoyed the poem.
The beginning of the poem starts with a humorous tone. Kinnell begins his poem with a simile “snore like a bullhorn”, an “Irishman”, or playing “loud music” to express the idea of something that is really loud and noisy, but still cannot wake the son up as opposed to the child’s ability to wake up to “heavy breathing” and a “come-cry” (line1-7). The tone that the...
The descriptions and words used create the most vivid images of a mother’s escape to freedom with her son. This poem takes you on both a physical and emotional journey as it unravels through the treacherous demands of freedom. A beautiful example of her ability to rhyme both internally as well as externally can be seen here,
From the combination of enjambed and end-stopped lines, the reader almost physically feels the emphasis on certain lines, but also feels confusion where a line does not end. Although the poem lacks a rhyme scheme, lines like “…not long after the disaster / as our train was passing Astor” and “…my eyes and ears…I couldn't think or hear,” display internal rhyme. The tone of the narrator changes multiple times throughout the poem. It begins with a seemingly sad train ride, but quickly escalates when “a girl came flying down the aisle.” During the grand entrance, imagery helps show the importance of the girl and how her visit took place in a short period of time. After the girl’s entrance, the narrator describes the girl as a “spector,” or ghost-like figure in a calm, but confused tone. The turning point of the poem occurs when the girl “stopped for me [the narrator]” and then “we [the girl and the narrator] dove under the river.” The narrator speaks in a fast, hectic tone because the girl “squeez[ed] till the birds began to stir” and causes her to not “think or hear / or breathe or see.” Then, the tone dramatically changes, and becomes calm when the narrator says, “so silently I thanked her,” showing the moment of
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
Hence, the poem's tone contains elements of remorse as well as impassivity. The traveler's detached description of the mother, "...a doe, a recent killing; / she had stiffened already, almost cold" (6-7), and the wistful detail with which he depicts her unborn offspring, "...her fawn lay there waiting...
Stanza three again shows doubtfulness about the mother’s love. We see how the mother locks her child in because she fears the modern world. She sees the world as dangers and especially fears men. Her fear of men is emphasized by the italics used. In the final line of the stanza, the mother puts her son on a plastic pot. This is somewhat symbolic of the consumeristic society i.e. manufactured and cheap.
When writing poetry, there are many descriptive methods an author may employ to communicate an idea or concept to their audience. One of the more effective methods that authors often use is linking devices, such as metaphors and similes. Throughout “The Elder Sister,” Olds uses linking devices effectively in many ways. An effective image Olds uses is that of “the pressure of Mother’s muscles on her brain,” (5) providing a link to the mother’s expectations for her children. She also uses images of water and fluidity to demonstrate the natural progression of a child into womanhood. Another image is that of the speaker’s elder sister as a metaphorical shield, the one who protected her from the mental strain inflicted by their mother.
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
The girl's mother is associated with comfort and nurturing, embodied in a "honeyed edge of light." As she puts her daughter to bed, she doesn't shut the door, she "close[s] the door to." There are no harsh sounds, compared to the "buzz-saw whine" of the father, as the mother is portrayed in a gentle, positive figure in whom the girl finds solace. However, this "honeyed edge of li...
The poem is gentle and nostalgic. It seeks not only to recreate the scene for the reader, but
When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A
The fact that they feel they can sit about the knee of their mother, in this stereotypical image of a happy family doesn’t suggest that the children in this poem are oppressed... ... middle of paper ... ... y has a negative view of the childish desire for play which clearly has an effect on the children. The fact that they the are whispering shows that they are afraid of the nurse, and that they cannot express their true thoughts and desires freely, which is why they whisper, and therefore shows that Blake feels that children are oppressed. I feel that the two poems from innocence which are ‘The Echoing Green,’ and ‘The Nurses Song,’ display Blake’s ideological view of country life which I referred to in my introduction, and show his desire for childhood to be enjoyed.
There are a couple of similes the author uses in the poem to stress the helplessness she felt in childhood. In the lines, “The tears/ running down like mud” (11,12), the reader may notice the words sliding down the page in lines 12-14 like mud and tears that flowed in childhood days. The speaker compares a...
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
Chaos and drudgery are common themes throughout the poem, displayed in its form; it is nearly iambic pentameter, but not every line fits the required pattern. This is significant because the poem’s imperfect formulation is Owen making a statement about formality, the poem breaks the typical form to show that everything is not functioning satisfactorily. The poem’s stanza’s also begin short, but become longer, like the speaker’s torment and his comrades movement away from the open fire. The rhyming scheme of ABABCDCD is one constant throughout the poem, but it serves to reinforce the nature of the cadence as the soldiers tread on. The war seems to drag on longer and longer for the speaker, and represents the prolonged suffering and agony of the soldier’s death that is described as the speaker dwells on this and is torn apart emotionally and distorts his impressions of what he experiences.